The Five Most Common Causes of Back Pain

by CLINT MAugust 05, 2018

The five most common causes of back pain are: degenerative changes, slipped discs, spinal instability, spinal stenosis, and muscles injury. For you to better understand your back pain we have provided an in-depth look at the following causes.

Degenerative Changes: As one age their cartilage starts to break down causing friction between the bones in your spine, this is known as osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis affects everyone over 60 but some cases are more critical than others.

Slipped Disk: Also known as a herniated disc, a slipped disc is a disk in your spine that extends through the outer ring. The causes of this can be due to physical trauma or weakness. One most likely experiences pain with a slipped disk when it affects the lower spine which leads to irritation of the sciatic nerve. You can bet that your sciatic nerve is irritated if you have severe pain that radiates down the leg.

Spinal Stenosis: Simply put, spinal stenosis is the narrowing of the spinal column. This is caused when ligaments become thicker around the spinal cord resulting in the spinal cord to become irritated. One can have numbness, muscle weakness, and even lack of bowel control when dealing with spinal stenosis.

Spinal Instability: With age, there is a significant wear on both disks and joints causing them to have difficulty in supporting the spine. This leads to the vertebrae being far more mobile than it should. The symptoms come and go and feel like back spasms. The can be caused with such minor motions as laughing, coughing, sneezing and prolonged coughing.

Muscle Injuries: This is the most common cause of back pain and muscle pain can be caused by overstretching, sitting for too long of a time, strenuous lifting...and the list goes on and on.

Back pain doesn’t discriminate. The vast majority of us will have back pain from time to time. And with it affecting us at such an early age the majority of us want to treat our pain holistically rather than being over medicated.